Tag: Joseph Benavidez

There’s good news for you: There exists legitimate (and, most importantly, LEGAL) footage of the fight’s best parts.

Edgar beat Swanson to the punch throughout their five-round affair last night. He also beat him to the takedown, too, dragging Swanson to the mat and smashing him with ground and pound (as much as a 145-pound man can smash someone, at least). In the fifth round, Edgar managed to submit Swanson via rear naked choke with only four seconds remaining. This was arguably Edgar’s finest performance to date — a fight so one-sided the word “fight” really isn’t appropriate. Use “ass-kicking” or, if you’re a language-sensitive baby, “shellacking” instead.

The UFC Fight Night 57 main card kicks off on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, and our old friend Matt Kaplan will be stickin’ round-by-round results after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section or on twitter @cagepotatomma. Thanks for being here.

Instead, “12 Gauge” and “Punkie Bruise-ter” (our tentative nickname for Curran) will now square off at Fight Night 57, which goes down on November 22nd from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. This is normally the part of the article where we’d start listing Van Zant and Curran’s relevant/recent wins, but with a *combined* record of 6-1 and their only notable opponent being Tecia Torres (who defeated VanZant via UD at Invicta 4), let’s just skip the formalities, shall we?

Also joining Fight Night 57 will be a flyweight clash between Joseph Benavidez and Dustin Ortiz. After being KO’d by Demetrious Johnson in their rematch at UFC on FOX 9, Benavidez bounced back in style at UFC 172, submitting Tim Elliott with a guillotine so vicious that it forced him to tap with his feet. Ortiz, on the other hand, has made it two in a row since being outworked by John Moraga at Fight Night 35, notching split decisions over Ray Borg and highly-touted prospect Justin Scoggins in back-to-back appearances.

After the jump: Kailin Curran kicks the shit out of two interns on The Jason Ellis show. You know, for science.

Schadenfreude is the German word for taking pleasure from the misfortune of others, and aside from scheisseporn it’s pretty much the best word to come out of Germany untranslated. The German fußball team gave us some textbook definition schadenfreude action when they crushed Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup earlier this week, and everyone on the internet delighted in watching the host nation weep like little bitches during the meltdown.

Evil pleasure aside, there’s something fascinating about seeing another human wallowing in sadness. And outside of a choking team’s arena or third world country, I’d argue there’s no better place to stare sadness in the face than at a UFC post-fight press conference.

While most of the defeated fighters on a card get to skip the conference and ruminate on their losses in private, the loser of the main event is expected to show up and answer sharp questions from our crack MMA media like “How do you feel right now?” and “What is next now that you’ve failed?”

The look on their faces as they struggle to answer will hit you right in the feels. Or trigger dat schadenfreude if you’re a dick. Since I am definitely a dick, allow me to be your sadness sommelier on this tour through the saddest sadfaces at UFC post-fight press conferences…

Now that the UFC on FOX 9 salaries have been made available, it’d be hard to declare that Johnson isn’t well on his way to achieving the financial security he so desires. The flyweight champ might not be making “Anderson Silva money,” but he managed to bank $175,000 for just two minutes work on Saturday, which makes for a nice chunk of change when combined with that X-box One money he is surely making.

Now 4-0 in 2013 with three submission victories to his credit, Urijah Faber topped the $1,007,000 payroll, banking a cool $200,000 for his second round, SOTN-earning win over Michael McDonald. Dude is looking more and more like Vitor Belfort by the day, so let the year of the Rhino ”The California Kid” continue. Join us after the jump for the full list of disclosed salaries, as well as our thoughts on the payout.

Zach Makovsky defeated Scott Jorgensen via decision. Interestingly enough, Makovsky—a former Bellator champ—didn’t have to prove himself in WSOF to get a shot in the UFC. Funny how things work out like that, isn’t it?

Pat Healy dropped a unanimous decision to Bobby Green. The crowd booed the announcement (or maybe they were saying boo-urns). The decision wasn’t horrible although it was pretty clear Green didn’t win all three rounds (but somehow 2/3 judges thought he did).

Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo elevated the card’s energy level. In the first round, Castillo ran over Barboza like a freight train. He floored the Brazilian striker, unleashed vicious ground-and-pound, and nearly choked him out. Somehow, Barboza survived the torrent of offense and even managed to reverse his fortunes in the second round. In that frame, Barboza made use of leg and body kicks to stymie Castillo and nearly finish him. The third round was a little closer and slower-paced. Barboza walked away with a majority decision.

In the last preliminary fight, rising star and late replacement Ryan LaFlare carved up Court McGee‘s face with pinpoint striking. The Long Islander outworked McGee until the third round, where he started to gas a little bit. But LaFlare’s work in the first two rounds was enough to secure a unanimous decision.

(It was then that Demetrious realized his own head was chilly, and the envy built up inside him, poisonous and overwhelming. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

The UFC is setting up shop at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento this evening, and while injuries have hacked this card down to a hobbling shell of its former self, we’ll still happily tune in to watch the Team Alpha Male crew defend its home turf on network television. On the docket for this evening: Joseph Benavidez takes another crack at reigning flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, local legend Urijah Faber takes on 22-year-old bantamweight phenom Michael McDonald, and Chad Mendes looks for his fifth-straight KO/TKO in the featherweight division against Nik Lentz. Plus, Joe Lauzon and Mac Danzig kick off the broadcast in a battle between a guy who collects a lot of bonus money and a guy with no sponsors.

Handling our liveblog for this evening is Aaron Mandel, who will be banging out round-by-round results from the UFC on FOX 9 main card after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know how you’re feeling in the comments section.

In just a few minutes, the weigh-ins for UFC on FOX 9 kick off from the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. Funny, I didn’t know they named an arena after Francis Carmont, and in America no less (*lights fireworks and releases flock of doves*). If our past few posts about this event are any indication, three fighters will fail to make weight tonight, two fighters will injure themselves backstage, and the entire attending audience will be consumed in a wave of Godzilla’s all-cleansing fire. Seriously, have you guys seen the trailer for the Godzilla remake yet? It looks insane.

Over the weekend, UFC president Dana White revealed that lightweight champion Anthony Pettis had suffered a knee injury in training, but was still expected to defend his belt against Josh Thomson in the main event of UFC on FOX 9 (December 14th, Sacramento). “He’s going to fight,” White said. “For sure.”

Well, not really. UFC officials announced last night that Pettis has pulled out of the match. We have no details on the nature or severity of Showtime’s injury at this time, or if it’s related to the knee injury that pushed Pettis out of UFC 163 back in June. We’ll keep you posted.

The UFC plans to re-book Pettis vs. Thomson when the champ is recovered, but you never know with these things. Thomson was already the second choice for Pettis’s UFC on FOX 9 opponent after TJ Grant had to stay sidelined due to concussion. If Grant is healthy by the time Pettis is, the UFC might just do Pettis vs. Grant like they had originally planned. Meanwhile, Josh Thomson’s immediate future is in limbo, and the famously cursed fighter just saw the biggest opportunity of his career go up in smoke. [Ed. note:We'll start working on his illustrated timeline.]

Demetrious Johnson‘s first meeting with Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152 was a frantic, closely-pitched five-rounder that earned Mighty Mouse a split-decision victory and the UFC’s first-ever flyweight title. A year later, Johnson and Benavidez are still the two best 125-pounders in the UFC — so why not come back for an encore?

As for the challenger, Benavidez has looked more impressive with each recent outing — which is becoming a trend among Team Alpha Male fighters. Since his loss to Johnson, Benavidez has scored a decision win against Uncle Creepy, TKO’d Darren Uyenoyama, and laid a beating on Jussier Formiga. Joe B has clearly earned another shot at the belt, and he’s a markedly improved fighter compared to a year ago. Will it be enough to make the outcome any different this time?